Public Health Improvement Act
The Public Health Improvement Act would make sweeping changes to the governance, scope, and authority of major U.S. public health agencies. Key elements include imposing a 12-year total term limit on leaders of the CDC and NIH, narrowing the content of the CDC’s strategic plan to focus on diseases (removing emphasis on noncommunicable diseases, injuries, and environmental or occupational hazards), and reshaping the CDC’s advisory committee with a new mix of appointments from the Administration, Congress, and the Comptroller General. The bill would transfer several major CDC offices to the NIH after two years, tighten the regulation of public health authorities by limiting the scope to communicable-disease control, require congressional approval for public health emergency determinations (with a 90-day renewal mechanism and a 48-hour reporting requirement), require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue new regulations to implement the act within 90 days, and include strong preemption of conflicting laws. In short, the bill would curb some emergency powers, restructure leadership and advisory processes, and realign certain public health functions under NIH rather than CDC.
Key Points
- 1Term limits for top agency leaders: No individual may serve as CDC Director or NIH Director for more than a total of 12 years.
- 2Narrowed focus of the CDC strategic plan: The plan would be limited to diseases, removing references to noncommunicable diseases/conditions, injuries, and certain environmental or occupational hazards.
- 3New CDC advisory committee structure: The advisory committee would be reconfigured with specified appointments (3 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, including one public health official; 2 by the Senate majority leader; 2 by the Senate minority leader; 2 by the House Speaker; 2 by the House minority leader; and 4 by the Comptroller General).
- 4Major reorganization of offices: Beginning two years after enactment, several CDC offices would be transferred from the CDC to the NIH, including centers focusing on birth defects and development, chronic disease prevention, environmental health, health statistics, HIV/viral hepatitis/STD/TB prevention, injury prevention, and occupational safety and health, among others.
- 5Expanded congressional oversight and regulatory changes: Public health emergency determinations would require renewal by a majority vote in both chambers, with a renewal period ending when the emergency is no longer in effect or after 90 days from a joint Congressional vote, and the Secretary must notify Congress within 48 hours of such determinations. The act also requires new regulations within 90 days to implement these changes and includes preemption over inconsistent laws.